Strap sealing tool with full stroke compelling means



June 26, 1962 A, EmcssoN 3,040,606

STRAP SEALING TOOL WITH FULL STROKE COMPELLING MEANS Filed Feb. 24, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ,3 Y v l I,

June 26, 1962 A. l. ERICSSON 3,040,606

STRAP SEALING TOOL WITH FULL STROKE COMPELLING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 24, 1959 INVENTOR. B Arvid I ENZ/,95010 MM/MJM/(M Afro/zA/EYS i operating links;

United States Patent C);F

i 3,040,606 STRAP SEALING TOOL WITH FULL STROKE COMPELLING MEANS Arvid I. Ericsson, Chicago', Ill., assignor to Signode Steel strapping Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 24, 1959, Ser. No. 794,930

Claims. (Cl. 81-9.1)

The present invention relates to crimping tools of the type used for the crimping of overlapped strap ends,

their fully closed crimping position before the movable operating handle can be oppositely moved tor open the jaws `and thereby release the crimping tool from the work.

A diiculty which has been experienced often in the use of this type of tool lies in the fact that a proper seal for strap ends requires that the operator of the tool should manipulate the handles and the jaws of the tool through a full crimping stroke. If the operator removes the tool from the strap ends after only partially completing the crimping stroke, a proper seal will not be etiectedand the strap ends may separate and release the goods tied or bound by the str-ap.

This diiiculty is overcome by the present invention. An illustrative embodiment of this invention insures a full jaw-closing crimping stroke by a structural combination in which `a hook-shaped latch is rotationally or pivotally biased into blocking relation with a stop member which reciprocates with the movable operating handle. The hook-shaped latch is held out of the path of said stop member by retaining means which is moved to release the latch by means of a member which Imoves with the crimping jaws as the movable operating handle nears' the .end of its opposite or opening movement. The movable handle carries means for retaining the latch to handle-freeing position when the handle is moved forwardly to its closed jaw position.

The invention will be more tion with the accompanying drawings in which: v

`FIGURE l is a partial side elevation illustrating a crimping tool constructed in accordance with the invention, the tool being shown with the operating handles in closed position;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the crimping .tool shown in FIGURE l; j Y

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1; Y

` FIGURE 4 is ya side elevational View similar to FIG- URE 1 with a side plate removed and with theV head of the movable operating handle in section for the purpose of better viewing the operating portions of the crimping tool; j

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of one of the jaw- `FIGURE 6 .is a perspective view of the other jawoperating link;

fully described in conjunc- 3,040,600 Patented June 26, 19152 rice VFIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the latch employed in this illustrative embodiment of the invention;

FIGURES 4, 8 and 9 are similar to one another and show the operation of the crimping tool, of the invention in step-by-step fashion;

`FIGURE 4 shows the handles in closed position, this position corresponding to the fully closed crimping position of the crimping jaws;

FIGURE 8 shows the operating handles in open posi-v tion, corresponding to the fully open or work-releasing position of the crimping jaws; and

FIGURE 9 shows the operating handles-in partially closed position, corresponding to a position of the crimping jaws in which the'work is partly deformed and in which position the crimping jaws encircle the work and t cannot be pulled away therefrom without fully opening r the crimping jaws.

The crimping tool illustrated in FIGURES l, 2 and 3, includes a pair of substantially parallel side plates 10 and 11 between which are mounted the crimping jaw links 12 and 13, the crimping jaw links carrying the crimping jaws 12. and 13. The crimping jaw links are pivotally connected to the side plates 10 and 11 by means of pins 14 and 15 for pivotal movement between the side plates 10 and 11 in a plane parallel thereto. The p-ins 14 and 15 also carry a notcher with which the jaws 12 and 13 coact in a conventional manner. The term crimping jaw is usually used hereinafter to designate the combination of a crimping jaw link and a crimping jaw per se.

The side plates 10 and 11 are secured together in parallel spa-ced relation by means'of various bolts and coacting nuts which will be described more fully hereinafter.

The crimping tool of this invention employs at least one movable handle mounted for pivotal movement in a plane parallel to the plane of the side plates, and means `linking the movable handle lwith the crimping jaws whereby forward or closing movement of the handle will close the jaws to a closed, crimping position and an opposite or opening movement of the handle will open the jaws to an open work-receiving or releasing position.

A movable operating handle 16 is mounted for pivot-al movement between the side plates 10 and 11 at the upper forward end of the side plates on a pivot pin 17. EXtend- Y when the crimping tool is xed in position as part of a sealing tool, in which event the tool body provides the desired leverage.

The crimping jaws are operated by manipulation of the movable handle through a linkage including a pair of connecting links 21 pivotally connected by a pin 23 to the movable handle 16 and operating as -a reciprocating Y member. The forward underside of the head of the handle 16 is formed as a yoke as indicated by the numeral 22 to pivotally receive the upper ends of the links 21.

'Fhe lower ends of the connecting links 21 are pivotally connected to the inner ends of operating links 24 and 25. The pivotal connection is indicated at 26 and in the form of the invention shown is a pivot pin and stop pin which projects laterally beyond the connecting links 21. Op-

erating link 24 is pivotally connected at its outer end to the upper end of crimping jaw link 12 as indicated at 27. Similarly, the outer end of operating link 24 is pivotally connected to the upper end of crimping jaw link 13 as indicated at 28.

When the movable handle 16 is pivoted to elevate the same, which movement is here termed an opposite or opening movement, the reciprocating member or connecting links 21 with the stop member constituted by stop pin 26 are elevated and pins 27 and 28 are moved inwardly to pivot the crimping jaw links 12 and 13 thereby spreading or opening the crimping jaws 12' and 13. During this opposite movement, the upper ends of the crimping jaw links 12 and 13 move inwardly. When the movable handle 16 is moved in a forward or closed direction to bring the movable handle 16 toward the fixed handle 18, the reciprocating member or connecting links 21 lower with the stop pin 26 and operating links 24 and 25 are moved to force the pins 27 and 28 outwardly thereby closing the crimping jaws 12 and 13 and causing the structure to assume the position shown in FIGURES 1 and 4.

The stop pin 26 extends into vertical slots 29 in the side plates and 11 (see FIGURES 1 and 3) thereby conining the movement of stop pin 26 and the lower ends of connecting links 21 to a vertical reciprocation. The yoke 22 defines recesses 30 which receive the upper end of connecting link 21 during movement of the handle 16.

The embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings includes a hook-shaped latch 31 and means to bias the latch toward engagement with the stop pin 26. The latch 31., yformed with a hook 32 on the free end thereof, is pivotally mounted on bolt 33 which is secured in place extending across side plates 10 and 11 by a nut coacting therewith. A spring 34 surrounds the shaft of the bolt 33 and bears against a laterally projecting pin 35 to provide a constant rotational bias for the latch 31 in a counterclockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 1 so that the hook 32 is biased toward engagement with the stop pin 26.

The tool of this invention employs retaining means engageable with the latch for retaining the latch out of engagement with the stop means whereby the movable handle is free for opposite movement to open the crimping jaws. This retaining means is biased into engagement with the latch, and means movable with the crimping jaws and coacting with the retaining means is employed to cause the retaining means to move and release the latch when the movable handle nears the end of its opposite movement. This means for moving the retaining means also functions to release the retaining means when the movable handle is moved forwardly to close the crimping jaws.

The latch 31 carries a laterally projecting pin 36 which is employed to enable the latch to be retained in a position in which -the hook 32 is out of the path of the stop pin 26. A latch trigger 37 is formed with a downwardly facing hook 38 engageable with the pin 36, and a downwardly projecting cam 39. The latch trigger is pivotally mounted between the side plates 10 and 11 on a pin 40. A spring 41 encircles the pivot 40 and bears downwardly against a side shoulder 42 on the latch trigger 37 to provide a constant rotational bias for the trigger 37 to urge the Vhook 38 into retaining engagement with the pin 36 on the latch 31.

The upper end of crimping jaw link 13 coacts with the cam 39 to move the trigger 37 upwardly to cause hook 38 to release latch 31 when the movable handle 16 is moved to its fully open position.

The invention also includes means associated with the movable handle and positioned in the path of the upper end of the latch when the latch is in blocking position, for moving the latch to a position where it is engaged by the retaining means when the movable handle is moved to its fully closed position. The underside of the head of the movable handle 16 is formed with a recess 43, the forward end of which defines a cam face 44. The cam face 44 engages the upper end of the latch 31 as the forward movement of handle 16 is completed and forces the latch 31 to pivot in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURES 1 and 4, to move the pin 36 to a position where it is engaged by the hook 38 on the trigger 37.

The block y19 is formed with an upstanding stop shoulder 45 which functions to prevent the movable handle 16 from being pivoted against the fixed handle 18 thereby facilitating grasping of the handles during operation of the crimping tool.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following description of operation which is presented in conjunction with the step-by-step drawing of FIGURES 4, 8 and 9. On these figures which are partly diagrammatic, arrows 34' and 41 represent the rotational bias direction of springs 34 and 41, respectively, which are not shown in these figures, as well as parts associated therewith.

Arrow A in FIGURE 8 identifies the direction of opposite or opening pivotal movement of the operating handle 16. When the handle 16 is raised to an open position in the direction of arrow A, it functions to elevate the reciprocating member or links 21, the stop pin 26 and operating links 24 and 25 to cause the upper ends of the crimping jaw links 12 and 13 to pivot inwardly. The crimping jaws 12 and 13 pivot outwardly at the same time, as indicated by arrow B. As the operating handle 16 nears the end of its opposite or opening movement, the upper end ofthe crimping jaw link 13 swings inwardly to contact the downwardly extending cam 39 on the trigger 37. This causes the trigger 37 to be pivoted upwardly as indicated by arrow C to cause the hook 38 on the trigger 37 to move away from pin 36 and release the latch 31. Because of the position of the cam 39 on the trigger 37, the hook 38 does not release pin 36 until handle 16 is in its substantially fully elevated position. Thus, when latch 31 is released, it will pivot in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by arrow D, FIGURE 8, by virtue of the rotational bias indicated by arrow 34. This moves the holding face 46 which is formed on the latch 31 above the hook 32 thereof against the stop pin 26. Operating link 24 is recessed at 24', as shown in FIGURE 5, to receive the head of handle 16 as shown in FIGURE v8.

When the operating handle is fully raised and the crimping jaws are fully opened the tool may be placed over a seal member surrounding overlapped strap ends to crimp and seal the same. With the tool in position, the handle 16 is moved forwardly toward fixed handle 18 as indicated by arrow E in FIGURE 9. This moves the upper end of the jaw links 12 and 13 outwardly to release cam 39 from the upper end of crimping jaw link 13 so that hook 38 of trigger 37 may pivot to bear against pin 36 under the rotational bias indicated by arrow 41. It will be observed that the inner end of trigger 37 is formed with a holding face 47 adjacent hook 38 and that the counterclockwise movement of latch 31 is limited by the inner surface of hoop 32 or the holding face 46 contacting stop pin 26 so that pin 36 does not move beyond holding face 47 and trigger 37 cannot swing past pin 36.

As the forward movement of movable handle 16 is continued, as indicated by arrow E, the connecting links 21 and stop pin 26 are lowered so that stop pin 26 lies below the holding face 46 on the latch 31. As soon as stop pin 26 has moved beneath the holding face 46, latch 31 moves in a counter-clockwise direction as indicated by arrow G, FIGURE 9. This movement of latch 31 serves to vposition hook 32 above the stop pin 26 and obstructs elevation thereof until the latch is retracted.

Thus, when operating handle 16 is only partially closed to partially close crimping jaws 12 and 13' to partially crimp the work, handle 16 cannot be oppositely moved to open crimping jaws 12 and 13. The jaws cannot be reopened from a partially closed position to release the work since, if opposite movement of handlef 16 is attempted, such movement is obstructed by interengagement between stop pin Z6 and hook 32 of latch 31.

Upon continued forward movement of handle 16 in the` direction indicated by arrow E in FIGURE 9, crimping jaws 12 and 13' are moved to their fully closed or crimping position which is shown in FIGURE 4. As

handle 16 nears its fully closed position, the cam face 44 v of the handle 16 engages the upper end of latch 31 so that the act of closing handle 16 causes cam face 44 to slide against the upper extremity of the latch y31 to pivot the latch in a clockwise direction indicated by arrow H. This moves the pin 36 rearwardly with respect to the hook 3S and into position to be grasped thereby as indicated by `arrow I. The `grasping action of hook 38 on pin 36 is automatic by virtue of the counter-clockwise biasing action indicated by arrow 41.

With pin 36 properly grasped in hook 3S of trigger 7,v handle 16 is freed for opposite movement as indicated in FIGURE 8 whereby the crimping jaws 12' and 13 may be opened and the work released.

From the foregoing it will be observed that, in accordance with the principles of this invention, the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings is effective to insure complete, full stroke manipulation thereof by the operator of the tool. If the operator only partially completes a crimping and sealing operation with the tool, he is unable to remove the tool from the work since the operating handle cannot be raised to a fully open position and the crimping jaws cannot be fully opened. It is only :after the crimping stroke has been completed that the latch is retracted and held in a retractedV position so as to free the operatinghandle and crimping jaws for movement in an open direction to free the jaws from the work.

It will be understood that various modifications may be made in the specific structure which has been described without departing from the present invention.

I claim:

l. A crimping tool comprising a pair of substantially parallel side plates, a pair of crimping jaws positioned between said side plates and movable in a plane parallel to said side plates between an open work-receiving position vand a closed crimping position, a movable handle mounted for pivotal movement with respect to said side plates, reciprocating means linking said movable handle with said crimping jaws whereby forward movement of said handle will lower said reciprocating means to close said jaws and opposite movement of said handle will eley fvate said reciprocating means to open said jaws, stop v means mounted on said reciprocating means for movement therewith, a hook-shaped latch pivotally mounted between said side plates, means biasing said latch toward engagement with said stop means, retaining means pivotally secured to said side plate and engageable with said latch for retaining said latch out of engagement with said stop means whereby said movable handle is free for opposite movement to open said crimping jaws, means biasing said retaining means into engagement with said latch, means movable with said crimping jaws and coacting with said retaining means to cause said retaining means to move and thereby release said latch at a point within and near the end of the range of the opposite movement of said handle and for releasing said retaining means within the range of forward movement of said handle to close said crimping jaws, and cam means associated with\ said movabley handle `and positioned inthe path of the upper end of said latch when said latch is in blocking position for returning said latch to a position ,where it is engaged by said retaining means as the forward movement of said movable handle to its fully closed position is completed, the free end of said latch being positioned near thereby release said latch is constituted by the upper end of one of said crimping jaws.

3. A crimping tool ias recited in claim 2 in which said retaining means is constituted by a pivotally mounted trigger formed with a depending cam positioned in the path of the upper end of said crimping jaw.

4. A crimping tool as recited in claim l in which said movable handle is pivotally secured between said side plates at the upper lforward end thereof.

5. A crimping tool as recited in claim 1 in which said means linking said movable handle with said crimping jaws comprises a connecting linky carrying said stop means and `a pair of operating links, the inner ends of said operating links being pivotally secured to said vconnecting link and the outer ends of said operating links being pivotally secured to theVV upper ends of said crimping jaws.

6. Acri-raping tool as recited in claim 5 in which said hook-shaped latch is pivotally mounted between said side plates, said latch being spring-biased to urge the hook of Y 8. A crimping tool as recited in claim `l in which saidmovable handle includes va recess deiining s-aid cam means positioned in the path of the upper extremity of said latch when said latch is in blocking position whereby said cam means dened by said movable handle will contact said upper extremity of said latch as said movable handle is moved forwardly to close said crimping jaws to cause said latch to pivot into position for engagement by said retainmg means.

9. A crimping tool las recited in claim l in which said tool inclu-des a iixed handle secured to said sidehplates and projecting rearwardly therefrom in the plane oi said side plates.

10. A crimping tool comprising a pair of substantially parallel side plates, a pair of crimping jaws positioned between said side plates and movable in a plane parallel to said side plates between `an open work-receiving position and a closed crimping position, a movable handle secured between said side plates at the upper forward end thereof for pivotal movement in a plane parallel to the plane of said side plates, -a connecting link pivoted to said movable handle for reciprocating movement as said handle pivots, means linking said connecting link with said crimping jaws whereby vforward movement of said handle will lower said connecting link to close said jaws movable handle is free for opposite movement to openy said crimping jaws, means rotationally biasing said trigger to force the hook thereof into engagement with said latch, cam means carriedV by said retaining means, means movable with said crimping jaws and coacting with said cam means of said retaining means to cause said retaining `forward movement of said movable handle to its fully closed position is completed.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Cheeseman Dec. 6, 1892 Falck-Pedersen Apr. 22, 1958 Hepler Oct. 14, 1958 

